Small watercraft have a plurality of configurations and functions commonly need to be transported overland and unloaded upon an area of water prior to use. A typical method for solving the transportation need is to use a boat trailer, which is essentially a trailer designed to launch, retrieve, and carry boats.
Typically, the boat trailer is a wheeled, metal structure that is towed behind a vehicle. There are various methods employed to launch and retrieve boats from the boat trailer such as a “roller-style” which uses a series of rollers to roll a boat on and off of the boat trailer. Another type of boat trailer is a “float-style” trailer whereby the boat trailer is partially submerged into the water and the boat is allowed to float in the water and off or on to the boat trailer. For these types of boat trailers, it is desired to use a boat launch ramp at the water body which can lead to long wait times when using popular water bodies at high traffic times.
After the boat is launched, the boat trailer must be taken away from the boat launch ramp and stored until the boat is retrieved, contributing to the need for large parking lots to accommodate both the transporting vehicles and the boat trailers.
In an effort to avoid congested boat launch ramps at popular water sites, owners may opt to launch and retrieve boats in a location where there are no boat launching facilities. The boat trailer may be backed into the water until the boat trailer is inclined and boat slides into the water. However, the trailer may not be able to be placed far enough into the water to properly float the boat for a variety of reasons including needing to avoid soft or sandy terrain, which may cause the boat trailer to sink and get stuck. In addition, when retrieving the boat without a launch ramp, it may be difficult to properly align the boat with the boat trailer for recovery activities.
Other considerations for purchasing a boat trailer are that there are additional expenses for licensing required by the owner's state of residence and maintenance for the boat trailer's tires and electrical lighting system.
A boat dolly is an alternative device used to launch and retrieve small boats into and from the water. Although generally smaller than a boat trailer, a boat dolly has smaller wheels and is not suitable for towing a boat on roadways, thereby creating the need for an additional method of transporting both the boat and the dolly overland.
Various attempts have been made to solve problems found in small boat launch and recovery devices art. Among these are found in: U.S. Pat. No. 4,212,580 by Fluck; U.S. Pat. No. 3,550,800 by Robinson; U.S. Pat. No. 5,354,164 by Goss, et. al.; and U.S. Pat. No. 3,127,041 by Flynn. These prior art references are representative of boat launching means.
None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the invention as claimed. Thus, a need exists for a reliable folding boat hauler system, and to avoid the above-mentioned problems.